Zechariah 9:12 (KJV)

Passage

Turn you to the strong hold, ye prisoners of hope: even to day do I declare that I will render double unto thee;

Nearby Context

Zechariah 9:10 And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem, and the battle bow shall be cut off: and he shall speak peace unto the heathen: and his dominion shall be from sea even to sea, and from the river even to the ends of the earth.

Zechariah 9:11 As for thee also, by the blood of thy covenant I have sent forth thy prisoners out of the pit wherein is no water.

Zechariah 9:12 Turn you to the strong hold, ye prisoners of hope: even to day do I declare that I will render double unto thee;

Zechariah 9:13 When I have bent Judah for me, filled the bow with Ephraim, and raised up thy sons, O Zion, against thy sons, O Greece, and made thee as the sword of a mighty man.

Zechariah 9:14 And the LORD shall be seen over them, and his arrow shall go forth as the lightning: and the LORD God shall blow the trumpet, and shall go with whirlwinds of the south.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "turn", "strong", "hold", "prisoners", "hope", "even", "declare", and "render". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "turn" and "strong", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 11's "As for thee also by the blood..." into verse 13's "When I have bent Judah for me...", so "turn" and "strong" belong inside that flow. In Zechariah context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "turn" and "strong" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.